Overview

Students who participate in Journey North are engaged in real-life investigations. They observe, gather, and analyze authentic data; grapple with problem-solving challenges; “eavesdrop” on scientists engaged in inquiry; and discuss ideas and theories. These experiences offer rich opportunities for both you and students to explore how their thinking and reasoning, grasp of concepts, and abilities develop and become more sophisticated over time.

Weaving in Continuous Assessment
This type of continuous or embedded assessment reflects an important shift from assessment that is something you do at the end to something that happens throughout the learning process. (The National Science Education Standards and other subject area standards call for this approach.) This ongoing assessment while students are engaged is a powerful teaching and learning tool that does the following:

To truly understand what students have learned and can do, you need to use a wide range of assessment strategies. Click here for links to specific strategies and tools. Many are best suited to assessing certain types of gains. For instance, having students design a tulip investigation helps you assess their abilities to think and act like scientists. But an informal interview about why animals migrate helps you home in on their understanding of certain concepts.

Shifting Emphasis
Most disciplines have had a significant shift in thinking about assessment. It calls for less emphasis on facts and right and wrong answers and more on students’ explanations and evidence of reasoning. Here is an excerpt of what the National Science Education Standards says about this shifting emphasis.

Involving Students (Self- and Peer-Assessments)
When students are involved in the assessment process, know what’s expected, and help set learning goals and criteria for success, they are motivated to take responsibility for their own learning.They are better able to focus on learning goals/targets and improve products and performances; they also develop an awareness of their own strengths and gaps in understanding. In doing this, they come to see themselves as competent learners.

Here are some ways in which students can assess their own progress toward learning goals:

Students can also critique the work of other students in constructive ways. This works particularly well when they evaluate others’ cooperative skills, presentations, and investigation plans and reports. Serving as critical audiences for colleagues, is, after all, an important part of what scientists do. See sample questions in Critically Reviewing Science Research.

Checklists and rubrics make good self- and peer-assessment tools. Open-ended questions work well for self-assessment, but less well with peers. In any case, you should model the self-assessment process before expecting students to apply it themselves.